February 19, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Mike Grandmaison is an acclaimed Canadian photographer and widely recognized as one of Canada’s fine nature photographers. Passionate about photography and the natural world, Mike is known for creating unique images that reflect the natural beauty and diversity of his beloved country Canada. His award-winning images have been featured in some of the world’s finest publications, as well as in a wide array of books, calendars, cards and Canadian postage stamps. Mike is grateful to have had 21 books published to date on various regions/subjects of Canada from 1998 to 2024.
Growing up on the vast Canadian Shield, a professional background in biology, a decades-long career in the biological sciences, and a lifelong curiosity in physical geography have all contributed to the impressive, evocative body of work Mike has become known for. With camera in hand, he has explored literally the breadth of his beloved country Canada for 50 years. An uncompromising quality of craftsmanship, together with a signature style, distinguish Mike in this highly competitive field. While nature has been his main inspiration, Mike has also found great joy in photographing other subject matter including architecture, agriculture, gardening, industry and travel. More recently, Mike has focussed his energies on promoting his fine art imagery through the online gallery called: The Canadian Gallery.
Mike Grandmaison has been photographing Canada exclusively for 50 years. In the process, he has enjoyed an extremely enjoyable and successful career as a full-time professional freelance photographer. While Mike focussed on color throughout much of his career, his first photograph was a black and white image of his aunt’s barn that he made as part of a project in grade 11. While the photograph was lost through the years, he still vividly and clearly remembers it. Mike never forgot his roots and always dabbled in the medium of monochrome or black and white. His early days was often spent at the Edmonton Public Library browsing through its extensive photographic collection, in search of anything inspiring. Many of these books were authored by the greats such as Brett Weston (his absolute favorite), Ansel Adams, Minor White, Paul Caponigro, Harry Callahan, and Dorothea Lange and his fascination with monochrome continued with the modern masters like John Sexton, Craig Richards, Bruce Barnbaum, Micheal Levin, Michael Keena, Michael Keena, Chuck Kimmerle, Gary Wagner and Michael E. Gordon to name a few. In this presentation, Mike will discuss some of his influences, talk about what makes a good monochrome image through examples from his extensive library, discuss various ways to process black and white images and how best to bring your vision to life Mike will entertain a Q&A at the end of the presentation.